Advice for people who want to be responsible consumers

Here is a nifty little website that I happened upon today: the Responsible Shopper.

I’m not sure why, but with each week that passes lately I’m turning into a bigger and bigger hippie.  I actually took my mom’s comments about the low prices at Forever 21 (don’t laugh–we were in Vegas) to explain to her the idea of externalized costs.  For her, the problem is that she doesn’t know about the many ways that our consumer culture does damage to the planet, to cultures, and to individuals.

My problem, on the other hand, is not knowing what to do with that knowledge.  Enter Responsible Shopper.

There are three parts to the site: Learn, Act, and Live.  Learn is a browsing-friendly overview of many of our favorite consumer-product-based corporations, like Starbucks, WalMart and Disney.  Act is where the bleeding hearts try to get you to sign something or do something that will have a positive impact on the practices of those corporations.  Live is where you can learn about alternatives to the things provided by those corporations.

Go.  Read.  Be Responsible.